Mega developments set to transform a tranquil Cambodian bay

But something has changed in recent months, Him said. The number of saplings surviving the transplanting process has decreased, from 95 percent to about 30 percent. Toxic sediment has spread to the plantation after a channel was dredged in the seafloor to service an under-construction ferry terminal. The terminal, itself built on 4 hectares (10 acres) of buried mangrove forest, is just one in a series of industrial and commercial developments set to impose oil tankers, factory zones and cargo ships on this placid bay of mangrove forests, salt fields and fishermen.